The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) is pleased to announce that it will develop an education program addressing the advising needs of International Student Advisers (ISAs) vis-à-vis immigration policy and practice. The program will prepare ISAs working at educational institutions across Canada for the entry-to-practice exam to become Regulated International Student Immigration Advisers (RISIAs).

This professional designation has been developed by the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) with input from the Canadian Consortium for International Education (CCIE) which comprises CBIE, Universities Canada, Colleges and Institutes Canada, Languages Canada and the Canadian Association of Public Schools – International.

“CBIE is the central national network for ISAs, and building this education program is a natural progression of our work,” said Karen McBride, President and CEO of CBIE. “The program will cover the scope of immigration policies and practices pertinent to international students and will be a cornerstone professional development offering within our sector, made possible with the support of our members coast to coast.”

The education program will require accreditation by ICCRC which has developed comprehensive program guidelines. In order to prepare for the first enrolments later this year, CBIE will work over the summer and submit its proposed program design and components early in the fall.

ICCRC expects to post to its website information on the RISIA designation during July. ICCRC also anticipates offering an entry-to-practice exam in November primarily for ISAs with a minimum three years of experience in the field and who meet other essential criteria.

CBIE is committed to creating a program that fulfills the following criteria requested by educational institutions:

Focused on the scope of practice needed by ISAs to support their students

Offered in English and in French

Designed for in-service learners: online, flexible, offered partly in recorded format and partly in real-time guided discussion allowing learners to do the program part-time and, in large measure, when they wish

Affordable to ensure that institutions can provide the program to new ISAs on a sustainable basis.

In 2013 educational institutions learned that their ISAs were in scope of Section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and therefore could not offer student-related immigration advice, unless they were members of a handful of categories named in the Act, including Regulated Canadian Immigration Advisers (RCICs) within ICCRC. The RISIA designation paves the way for a streamlined education program focused on student matters.

The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) is Canada’s national organization dedicated to making Canada a global leader in international education. CBIE’s pan-Canadian membership comprises 150 colleges, institutes, universities, school boards and language schools which enrol over 1.2 million students from coast to coast.